France, February 11-15, 2009

Stage 4 - February 13: Greasque - Bouc Bel Air, 155km

Hunter brings Team Barloworld a win

After two prior podium appearances in the race, Team Barloworld's Robert Hunter won the sprint finish of the fourth stage of the of the Tour Méditerranéen from Greasque to Bouc Bel Air. Hunter outsprinted Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Caisse d'Epargne) and Jussi Veikkanen (Française des Jeux) and his other break-away companions for the win.

The stage featured several early attacks, with the first notable break of the day occurring at 20km. Fourteen riders, including Team Barloworld's Felix Cardenas and Robert Hunter, made the split. With around 30km to go, the leaders broke into two groups because of the strong winds, but Hunter managed to stay in the front of the race.

"I'm so proud of Robert and Felix," said Barloworld Director Sportif Alberto Volpi. "They are the oldest riders on the team, but they have great experience. It was not easy to take the win today because of the wind and the fearsome competition, but we got it!"

Second placed León Sánchez took over the yellow jersey over from his Caisse d’Epargne teammate Iván Gutiérrez.

"I feel sorry for taking the leader's jersey from a teammate," said León Sánchez, "but the race circumstances were such that a breakaway took shape, and I was in it." León Sánchez credited his teammate Imanol Ervit for help driving the break during the day's stage.

"Now I think that it will be difficult for anybody to defeat us in this race," he said with an eye toward the overall classification.